3-D “Jet”Printing with Living Cells

Using familiar microfluidic devices, it might take seventeen hours to build up a cubic centimeter of living material. To speed things up, engineers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands have devised a dual-stream “jet printer that can assemble a cubic centimeter in two minutes. As they report: “it is possible to capture a living cell inside printable material. The resulting bio building blocks are printed in a 3D structure that looks like a sponge, filled with cells and fluid. These 3D modular biomaterials have an internal structure that is quite similar to that of natural tissue. Many 3D printing techniques are based on using heat or UV light: both would damage living cells. The new microfluidic approach is therefore a promising technique in tissue engineering, in which damaged tissue is repaired by using cultured cell material of the patient.” MORE WITH VIDEO